In 2023, faced with an extremely complex international environment and arduous tasks of reform, development and stability, China’s economy has continued to be under pressure and has delivered a positive answer for the rebound of a very large economy. It has demonstrated strong resilience to withstand short-term fluctuations and win long-term development, and has once again become the largest engine of global economic growth.
Recently, some politicians, media and think tanks in the United States and western countries have been intensively promoting arguments such as “China’s economy has peaked” and “China’s rise is over.” They frequently downplay China’s economy and suppress China’s growth expectations. But facts speak louder than words. As H.E.Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, pointed out at the press conference of the Second Session of the 14th National People’s Congress that last year, China’s economy grew at a rate of 5.2%, contributing one-third of global growth. China cannot develop without the world, and the world cannot develop without China. Anyone who downplays China will definitely backfire on itself, and miss opportunities while misjudging China.
China’s economic development has shown a new trend. First of all, China’s development not only achieves reasonable quantitative growth, but also achieves effective qualitative improvement. Emerging industries are booming, green transformation has achieved remarkable results, social expectations have steadily improved, and new productive forces have accelerated. Secondly, China’s ultra-large-scale market with a population of more than 1.4 billion is expanding globally. New demands and new business formats are explosively emerging, and the space for its own development and foreign cooperation is rapidly expanding. Third, China’s door to opening-up is wider, and high-level and institutional opening-up has become increasingly valuable. China’s overall tariff level has been reduced to a level of developed members of the WTO, and the negative list for foreign investment access has been reduced to less than 31 items. Access to China’s manufacturing industry has been fully liberalized, the opening up of the service industry has been accelerated, and the rate of return on foreign investment remains among the best in the world.
The competitive advantage of the Chinese economy remains outstanding. First is the institutional advantages of the socialist market economy. China resolutely ensures that the market plays a decisive role in resource allocation. At the same time, it also pays attention to better playing the role of the government and effectively making up for market failures. Second is the demand advantage of the mega market. China’s GDP per capita has exceeded US$12,000, and its middle-income group is 400 million, forming a huge domestic market with strong growth potential. Third is the supply advantage of a complete industrial system. China has an industrial system consisting of 41 major, 207 intermediate and 666 small industrial categories. China is the only country in the world that has all industrial categories listed in the United Nations Industrial Classification. Fourth is the talent advantage of a large number of high-quality workers and entrepreneurs. China has the largest public education system in the world, and its demographic dividend is transforming into a talent dividend.
China does not pursue its economy development in isolation. As the largest driver of global economic growth, China has made outstanding contributions to the world economy and has become a major trading partner of more than 140 countries and regions. Kristalina Georgieva, President of the International Monetary Fund, said that every 1% growth in China’s economy will increase the production level of other economies by an average of 0.3%. The Rand Corporation of the United States reported that China has become the world’s largest source of international development financing, providing approximately US$1.34 trillion in loans and grants to more than 20,000 projects in 165 low and middle income countries since this century. In recent years, China has promoted the high-quality Belt and Road Initiative, created a new platform for international economic cooperation, injected new momentum into world economic growth, and expanded its own economic development space. China has cooperated with co-building countries in more than 3,000 practical cooperation projects, attracting nearly US$1 trillion in investment. The high-quality BRI will continue to be an engine for the common development of all countries and an accelerator for world modernization.
As a Chinese saying goes, “it seems easy but actually difficult to achieve things without going through the process”. Although China’s economy may face some difficulties and challenges, the basic trend of recovery and long-term improvement will not change. The best scenery among the world is still in China. Looking to the future, China’s economy will surely have a brighter prospect, and China’s development opportunities will surely benefit people all over the world including Afghanistan. China welcomes Afghanistan to take a free ride on China’s economic development, and is willing to work with Afghanistan to continue to actively promote the integration of the BRI and Afghanistan’s development strategy. China is also willing to strengthen mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation with Afghanistan in the field of economy and trade, help Afghanistan transform its resource endowments into development momentum, and contribute to building a community with a shared future for China-Afghanistan.